There is a simplistic conflation of sensibilities that are imagined by India’s right-wing about the policies and approach of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It is superficially assumed that Netanyahu enjoys unflinching support amongst all Israelis as the country goes about retaliating disproportionately in the Gaza Strip and expanding the war to Lebanon. The axiomatic and slightly lazy equation that Netanyahu is personally equal to Israel and Israelis besets such misplaced beliefs.

What is missed in this oversimplified understanding is that while Israelis (especially the Jews), like patriots from any other country, would certainly perceive organisations like Hamas or Hezbollah as ‘enemies’, and therefore put all hands on deck in times of grave exigencies like now, they may or may not support the politics of a Netanyahu and his manufactured ‘muscularity’ unthinkingly. Israel for all its questionable positions on Palestine is a rare, healthy, and thriving democracy. As the world’s most sanctioned nation by the United Nations, Israel has still not allowed the international opprobrium to coalesce, and consequently to regress into a single-party nation. While there are laws that directly or indirectly discriminate against the native Arab Israelis (largest minority composing 21 per cent of the population), yet the Arabs/Palestinians in Israel have equal voting rights with political space afforded for exclusive Arab parties. Internally, Israel has contested on conflicting ideas for better governance and handling of the underlying issues facing the country, and done so, democratically.

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Besides the religious/clerical parties representing various faithbased positions, the partisan landscape entails shades of Communist parties, Centrist/Liberal parties and a host of right-wing options. Their positions have included the secular, progressive and ‘two-state solution’-favouring approach of the Israeli Labor Party (or its earlier avatar Mapai) with foundational leaders like David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir, Yitzak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak etc. On the other side of the political spectrum are the hardline and increasingly right-wing, conservative, and exclusivist Likud Party, with leaders like Ariel Sharon and now, Netanyahu.

The latter do not believe in the ‘two-state solution’ (a position held by India, even now) and favour a more militaristic solution. Perhaps it is this subliminal appeal of the ‘muscularity’ and heavy-handed approach of Netanyahu that galvanises the right-wing cadres in India who too seek a similar approach towards ‘others’, in their own narrative. However, political reality is more complex in Israel itself, with Netanyahu facing a severe backlash from Israelis for his corrupt and authoritarian ways, much before the tragic 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas, which rightfully led to all Israelis to sink their partisan differences temporarily to counter the threat. So much so, that Israeli political rivals who were breathing down the neck of Netanyahu till then, subsequently joined hands to form a ‘National’ government in a show of national unity.

However, this ‘National’ unity was to support Israel only in a time of crisis, and not indefinitely for Netanyahu or his brand of politics. Many fallaciously even believe that Netanyahu and his partisan cadres represent the majority of Israeli Defense Force (IDF) veterans and their thinking ~ this is incorrect. The Veteran community is equally divided across the Israeli partisan spectrum, and if anything, murmurs of a significant sway away from the Netanyahu approach by the IDF community (serving and Veterans) has gained credence. The so-called political ‘Peaceniks’ (who favour the ‘two-state solution’) have also been distinguished IDF veterans. They include Yitzak Rabin, who was the Chief of IDF and oversaw Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War, and Ehud Barak who has the honour of being the most decorated soldier of IDF, who also rose to head it.

So the narrative that it is only the likes of Netanyahu who represent the patent Israeli valour or resilience is grossly misplaced; there are many in the opposition ranks who have been true Israeli heroes, but will not support his political belligerence masquerading successfully as the national currency, unilaterally. Hard data from Statista notes that the public approval percentage for Netanyahu has plummeted from a high of 68 per cent in 2015 to new low of 41 per cent in the midst of the ongoing action. Conversely his ‘Unfavourable’ score has risen from 31 per cent to 58 per cent! Clearly, many in India have misinterpreted the natural Israeli reaction to the terror attack by Hamas as unqualified support for Netanyahu or his policies. Many Israelis have commented on the ironic timing of the terror incident that may have inadvertently given Netanyahu the opportunity to distract focus from his failures, derelictions and shortsightedness, which may have contributed to the tinderbox-like situation in Gaza Strip in the first place.

The fate of yet another retired Chief of IDF, General Benny Gantz, who though a Netanyahu rival had joined the ‘National’ government following the terror attack for the sake of national unity, personifies the disillusionment against the Prime Minister’s ways in Israel. Though the Defense Minister in the interim ‘National’ government, like many moderates, Gantz too favoured a check and accountability on Netanyahu’s bloodlust and bludgeoning of Gaza Strip. A pacifist in relative terms, Gantz is in favour of demilitarizing Gaza and handing it over to an international/neutral force, normalising relations with Arab neighbours et al.

Seeing himself put in a position that is indefensible, should he have carried on in Netanyahu’s government, he resigned in June. Obviously, the move to withdraw was also tactical ~ to push for early elections so as to conclusively put an end to Netanyahu’s hawkish ways that many Israelis now believe will jeopardise their future. Has Netanyahu maximize his distractive politics of polarisation and aggression to such an extent that it has reached levels of diminishing marginal utility?

It seems most Israelis (including distinguished Veterans of IDF) think so. The facile view of many from India of a united Israeli populace, including its ‘Uniformed’ fraternity, endorsing and wholeheartedly supporting Netanyahu’s war in the Gaza Strip or Lebanon, is not true. Democracy always auto-corrects and perhaps Netanyahu and his ways have outlived their ability to convince people, at least in Israel. Conflation of an individual to the identity of a nation is always a fatal mistake.

(The writer is Lt Gen PVSM, AVSM (Retd), and former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry)